I’m a full professor who has spent more than 20 years publishing research, teaching, consulting, collaborating with nonprofits, running my own nonprofit, and mentoring young professionals while holding another full-time job — raising two children.
How to Move Past an Embarrassing Moment at Work
The worst thing you can do is tear yourself down.
January 03, 2023
HBR Staff/izusek/Aleksei_Derin/Getty Images
Summary.
You’re going to feel embarrassed at some point in your career. The worst thing to do afterwards is tear yourself down. It’s not productive to invalidate your feelings or use your mistakes as an indication of your worth. You did something that drew unwanted attention, and it’s perfectly reasonable that you’d want to hide for a while. But do come out of hiding. Here are a few ways to move past an embarrassing moment at work:
- Take a deep breath. If your slip-up is causing you to panic and worry, try to slow down your heart rate by taking deep breaths.
- Treat yourself with grace and compassion. Remind yourself that things could have been so much worse. Usually we make embarrassing moments much bigger than they are in our heads.
- Acknowledge what really happened and own the situation or mistake. If you need to apologize, correct yourself, or clean something up after an embarrassing moment, get to it so you have closure.
- Spotlight levity. Some of our most embarrassing moments are actually really funny and relatable to others (if we’re willing to look at them that way). Every work environment needs more fun. Give it some time and when it feels right, don’t hold back your laughter.
- Relive the moment with a friend but avoid negative ruminations. If you can’t bear to let it go, and your mind is spinning, talk about it to trusted friends. Don’t just listen to what your friends say but also pay attention to their body language and facial expressions, which will likely be full of empathy.
- Distract yourself. If you aren’t ready to talk to a friend yet, do something that forces you to occupy your mind.